Franz Ferdinand's guitarist has left the band due to family commitments

The 41-year-old rocker - who has five-year-old son Vito Gernedel with his wife Manuela Gernedel - has decided to put an end to his 14-year-career with the indie rock group to focus on his family.

In a statement posted to their official Facebook page on Friday (08.07.16), the band announced: "Nick will not be taking part in the recording or touring of the next Franz Ferdinand album.

"When we record and tour, it takes a long, full time commitment lasting a minimum of a year and a half, most of which is spent away from home. Nick has a young family and does not want to be away from them for such a long period."

The 'Take Me Out' hitmakers - also including Alex Kapranos, Bob Hardy and Paul Thomson - have wished Nick, who also played keyboard, all the best for the future and made it clear that he would be able to rejoin the band at anytime.

They continued: "We look forward to hearing what he gets up to. This is not necessarily a permanent situation and we will let you know if circumstances change in the future."

Nick also commented on his departure and while he won't be involved in Franz Ferdinand's record, he will continue to work in the music industry on production and writing.

He said: "I'd really like to thank all the fans for being such an inspiration over the years. What an amazing time it has been. I'm going to concentrate on production and writing and some completely different things for a bit and we can all look forward to the new Franz Ferdinand album."

Nick married his wife Manuela in 2005, and Franz Ferdinand turned down a spot at Live 8 just so the couple could tie the knot.